For many years, the District of Columbia was the only "state" or major metropolitan area without a community college. In 2009, the University of the District of Columbia created a community college division, which was meant to fill that void.

The American Association of Community Colleges (AACC) released a report that calls for dramatic changes to America's community colleges to ensure U.S. competitiveness. The report outlines seven specific recommendations for reforming the country's community college system in its new report, Reclaiming the American Dream: A Report from the 21st-Century Commission on the Future of Community Colleges.

A few weeks ago, Dr. H. Gilbert Welch of Dartmouth College published an Op-Ed article in The New York Times critiquing the pervasive use of screening tests for early diagnosis in medicine. The rationale for widespread screening — to catch disease early, before people get really sick — is intuitively appealing.

Follett Higher Education Group, the nation's leading operator of college campus stores and foremost supplier of used textbooks, will again partner with Phi Theta Kappa Honor Society and USA TODAY to sponsor the 2012 All-USA Community College Academic Team. In their ongoing mission to drive student success, Follett has increased its sponsorship of this prestigious award to a total of $125,000.

North Dakota University System Chancellor Bill Goetz advocated strongly Thursday for a proposal to add an applied management program at Williston State College that would be the first four-year degree offered by the school.